A Rose Has Many Thorns
by V Shape Otaku
Summary: My first WHR fic; Robin and Amon flee Japan after their attack on the Factory. On the plane, Robin meets a young man, who seems to be the only friend aside from Amon she may have in this city. But, does he have other motives for becoming friends with her?
1. White Rose

A Rose Has Many Thorns 

A.N. This is my first Witch Hunter Robin fic, so please, please bear with me. I'm placing this just after the end of the series, with the idea that Amon and Robin have decided to flee Japan.

Also, the way I work with things—sometimes a chapter reminds me of a song, so then I'll give the chapter the same title as that song and list all or part of the lyrics.  Unless I say so otherwise, I do not own any of the songs listed.  I also do not own Robin, Amon, or any of the other characters from the show, but I do own original characters, such as the one introduced in this chapter.  A character's thoughts are placed in brackets [Like this.].  I try to include description of what the character is doing in the same paragraph as the character thinks, so there should be no confusion.  I do the same with speech, because I rarely using quote notation, such as 'he said', 'she said', 'he asked', 'she shouted', etc.

Chapter 1: White Rose 

Robin stared blankly out of the window of the airplane and into the light fluffy clouds surrounding it.  Her view was only slightly interrupted by Amon, intently reading though a thick black book with English lettering embellished in gold on the cover.  A few hours prior, she had tried to translate for herself what it was that the cover said, but it was in vein, as it had been several years since she had last studied the English language.  Her thoughts wandered to Juliano as she stared at the book, remembering how he had once tutored her, urging her to learn as many languages as possible.

She had just decided to lean back on the headrest of her seat to sleep when the sound of obnoxiously loud music boomed from headphones on the young man beside herself.  She turned her gaze to him, examining his looks for the first time during the four hour flight.

He wore darkly tinted glasses, though they were to thick to be merely sunglasses.  His shaggy auburn hair covered part of his face, shadowing steel gray eyes.  He lazily flipped through a comic book, nodding his head to the beat of the music blaring from his headphones.  His faded black hoodie had English lettering roughly designed on the front—likely the name of an American metal band, Robin decided.

It took several minutes under Robin's intense gaze before the young man noticed her.  He plucked the headphones from his ears and smiled at Robin.  He reached into the pocket of his hoodie and pressed a button, causing the bothersome music to cease.  "I'm sorry, was that bothering you?"

Robin blushed as her natural passiveness took the better of her.  She shook her head and answered, "No, you just remind me of a friend of mine."

Losing interest in his book, Amon raised an eyebrow, careful not to avert his gaze from the book as he listened intently to the conversation.

The young man's grin spread as he looked deep into Robin's emerald eyes.  "I hope that he was a good friend, then.  I'd hate to remind someone of something bad."

"He was a very good friend…  I—I'm going to miss him."

"Ooh… You're not going back to Japan then? Hmm… Tell me, do you have a name to match that pretty face?"

Robin blushed again and her eyes dropped to the floor in anxiousness as she answered, "I am Robin."

The young man drew in a slow breath, feigning interest as he took a long look at Robin.  [She's the one… Figures…  The one person I start getting friendly with on this flight… I—dammit, this isn't right.]

Amon's eyes narrowed as he heard the young man's hesitation.  Finally, he heard the boy provide a name, "I'm Chris."

Robin smiled as she reached her hand out to Chris.  "Nice to meet you, Chris."

Chris took Robin's hand in his and shook it firmly, causing Robin to blush.  "Nice to meet you too, Robin.  So… where're you headed?"

Robin's eyes darted to Amon.  She knew that they were supposed to be living a new life, one without running, fear, without the word 'witch' haunting them wherever they went.  They were supposed to be normal people now, citizens—Amon even had a job waiting for him in the States as a police officer.  Amon took along look at Chris, a scowl on his face as he looked at the young man of about eighteen years.  Chris smiled innocently at Amon, his eyes reflecting a youthful innocence that is rare to see in any boy that age.  Amon nodded indifferently to Robin, awaiting Chris's reaction.

Robin hesitated as she pulled her ticket receipt from a pocket in her flowing ebony dress. "Loo-eye-vula."

"Louisville?  Kentucky?  What a coincidence!"

Robin smiled, and, not missing a beat, replied, "Considering that Louisville is the last stop for this plane, I don't how it should be a coincidence."

Chris blushed embarrassment as he took in Robin's looks, slowly memorizing the every detail—not to mention curves—that she had to offer.  "This your first time to the 'States?"

Robin nodded.

"You speak poor English, don't you?"

Robin nodded again.

"You don't know anyone else there either, do you?"

Nod.

"I see… Well… I know of a place just off of the interstate that serves excellent oriental food, and all of the employees speak Japanese—it's hard for American customers to order sometimes, you know?"

Robin giggled as she brought her hand to her face, gesturing amusement.

Chris pulled a blank piece of stationary from a folder under his comic book and pulled a pen from his pocket.  He wrote down a number and an e-mail address, signing his name in English and Japanese before handing the paper to Robin.  "My last name is Rose—I got stationary ordered, but when I got it, it was all pink and girly… Here, why don't you take the paper?"

Robin took a red folder as Chris handed it over to her and opened it, seeing that it was filled with pink stationary, each page with a red rose on the margin with the word 'Rose' at the top of the page.  "It's pretty."

Chris nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's why it didn't do me any good.  I'm not much of one to use 'pretty' stuff… except girls, I like pretty girls.  And, you, Robin, are beautiful."

Robin blushed a shade of red to match the rose on the stationary as the plane's intercom interrupted their conversation.

"Flight 283 is preparing for landing.  All passengers are urged to fasten their seat-belts and place all carry-on luggage in the storage over your heads."

~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

A.N. I know this first one was a short chapter, but it'll get longer as we go.  Read and review ^_^


	2. Rose Thriller

Chapter 2: Rose Thriller 

Robin's eyes widened as she stepped out of the airplane with Amon shortly behind herself.  She took in a deep breath, surprised that this new city didn't seem anything like Tokyo had been.  She could see buildings to the end of the horizon, but there were also rolling hills that the buildings were on.  Everything about this new city seemed… fresh.  She twirled around, letting her hair lift slightly in the fresh Kentucky wind.  She blushed when she saw Chris wink at her.

Robin slowly made her way into the airport from the outside hangar, smiling all the way through. [Is this it?  Is this what it's like to feel 'normal' without differences such as witches, seeds, and humans?]

Chris slowly approached Robin, a smug grin plastered onto his face.  "Tell you what, Robin.  Why don't you give me a ring as soon as you get settled in, and I'll show you around the city?"

Amon cleared his throat as he stood behind the two.  He gave a sharp glare to Chris as he placed his hand on Robin's shoulder.  "Robin, I think that perhaps I should accompany you.  Not that I'm trying to be rude, but it is easy for untrustworthy figures to harm someone in a city such as this—especially for newcomers such as ourselves."

Chris swallowed uneasily as he felt the true heat of Amon's glare.  He was not sure if it was because of his own feelings of guilt or because this man truly did not trust him that he felt so uneasy, but he knew that there would be trouble ahead. "Well, then… We could go to Six Flags, it's right next to the convention center!"

Robin stared at Chris blankly, slightly confused. "Six Flags?"

"You know, the amusement park!  Roller coasters, rides, cotton candy?  Come on, don't tell me you've never been to an amusement park before!"

Robin shook her head slowly.  "I've never really had the chance… when I was in Tokyo, I spent most of my time working, and before that, all I did was study… I've never even thought about going to that type of place."

Chris smiled an ear-to-ear grin as he took Robin's hand in his own.  "Fine then, we'll go tonight, is that okay?"

Robin's eyes slowly met Amon's as her face flushed red with the thought of being asked out.  "Amon… Can we—"

Amon nodded stoically as he continued to stare at Chris. [What is this boy up to?]

Robin gasped in awe as she got out of the rental car that Amon had gotten from the airport and saw the towering roller coasters, acres of theme rides, shops, and mini-games.  She followed shortly behind Chris as he headed towards the gates, pulling his wallet from his back pocket.

She felt odd, though, because she could tell that Amon was annoyed with the entire situation, but he would not tell her or even give her a sign that he was any less happy about everything than he usually was.  She admired him, though, in his dedication to looking after her as an older brother would.  For a while, when she began working at the STN-J, she had somewhat of a crush on him, but she later had realized that he was ten years her senior and had no romantic interest in her.  From that point on, she had decided to look up to Amon as an older brother rather than a potential boyfriend.

Amon stared ahead at the crowded amusement park in annoyance.  He could not help but to feel that Chris was trying to avoid him, and that the reason that the boy was trying to avoid him was for a more sinister reason than to flirt with Robin.  Something about the boy made Amon feel uneasy, as though he thought that Chris was there to follow them or to watch over them in order to report their whereabouts.

Chris led Robin into the theme park, an innocent smile on his face.  He withdrew a map of the park from his pocket, where he also held their ticket stubs.  He pointed out the various theme rides in the park to Robin and asked her to choose the first one to ride.

Robin stared at the map for a few moments and then pointed to what seemed would be the nearest roller coaster and nodded to Chris.  "That one doesn't look too scary…"

Chris smiled as he led Robin towards the coaster with Amon shortly behind.  As the three stood in front of the roller coaster, waiting in line, Robin stared at the towering structure that carried dozens of screaming passengers in awe.  "I don't know now… If all of those people are that scared…"

Chris shook his head. "This isn't that bad… here, ask some of these people as they come out."

Robin watched as a group of people came from the roller coaster, which had just stopped to unload before letting more passengers board.  One group of three, two girls and a boy, all about Robin's age, straggled behind, laughing as they chattered amongst one another.  Robin looked to them and cleared her throat before she spoke. "Ano… Is that ride really scary?"

One of the girls stopped laughing as she looked solemnly at Robin and shook her head.  "Not really.  I just spent the last fifteen minutes in line convincing another girl to ride, and she had a great time.  Heh, there's nothing to worry about.  You're strapped in really well, the tracks don't make any noise, and you aren't vibrated down to nothing.  In fact—Hey!  Brandon, Amy!  Wait up already! Sorry, gotta go… Have fun!"  The girl waved as she ran ahead to her companions, her long reddish-brown hair flowing in the wind.

Robin stifled a giggle as she saw the girl nearly trip as she reached her friends.  "Well, she certainly seemed to have liked it… I suppose I'll go."

15 minutes later

A confidant smile upon his face, Chris grasped Robin's hand as they stepped onto the roller coaster and sat in the seat, which allowed for three people.  Robin turned and looked behind Chris, only to see that Amon was standing next to the cart, reluctant to board.  "Amon, come on, this will be fun."

Amon narrowed his eyes and shrugged, as through throwing the idea that he would ever be nervous about riding on such a contraption. No sooner than he had sat down, a young girl with blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail pulled the safety bar over the three and locked it into place.  Amon gritted his teeth in annoyance as the roller coaster began to move.  The slow _click, click, click_ of the gears soon became much of an annoyance to him, though the sound also multiplied his anxiousness.

Robin held her breath in uneasiness as the roller car came near the peak of the first hill.  She smiled, though, when she felt Chris's hand slide over her own.

"It's okay, I won't let anything happen." Chris soothed with a wink.

Robin had just nodded as she felt the sudden loss of gravity, the roller car had gone over the top of the first hill and dropped seemingly straight down.  The only thing that seemed to be holding the three and the other passengers in was the thin, padded bar over their laps.  Just as Robin was sure that she would slam into the ground below and perish, the car made a sharp turn to the right. Then the car was propelled into the air and through a loop, causing everyone in the car to fly, upside down, though only for a fleeting moment.

And so was the pattern for the rest of the ride, though a short few minutes, it easily felt like an hour.  Finally, the car slowed and began clicking once more as it slid slowly into the loading area. The shaken trio staggered out of the car and held the railing tightly as they proceeded down a stairway to the exit of the theme park ride. Robin smiled as she followed Chris to the photo booth, where pictures that had been taken of the passengers in the roller coaster were shown for sale. [This is fun!  After all of the hard times, after all of the terror and hiding in Japan, after all of the loneliness… I'm finally able to live as a normal teenage girl!]

Chris waved one last time to Robin as he walked away from the hotel and towards his car.  He smiled as he unlocked the door and slid into the driver's seat.  He sighed and shook his head as he forced the key into the ignition and began to shift gears, making a quick exit from the hotel's parking lot. [I… I can't do this… she's not like the rest… not like that one… the one that made me this way…]

Chris's thoughts were broken as his cell phone rang.  He reached for it and read the number of the caller. [I don't want to talk to them now…]

_Ring!_

Chris shook his head as he pushed his foot down on the accelerator. [I'm not answering…]

_Ring, Ring!_

Chris growled to himself as he flipped his turn signal on and dropped the phone into his passenger seat.  [I'm not going to do this. I refuse to.]

_Ring!_

Chris scowled as he braked for a stop light. [Dammit…]

_Ring, Ring!_

Chris's hand shook as he reached out for the phone.  He gritted his teeth as he pressed the button and answered, "Hello?"

"Rose, have you found the target?"

Chris paled as he released the brake pedal and pressed onto his accelerator upon seeing the change in the traffic light. "Yes."

"Do you know where the target is currently?"

Chris gulped as he changed lanes and passed a slow-moving vehicle. "I'm not exactly sure."

"What does that mean?"

Chris narrowed his eyes as he turned into the parking lot for his home, his apartment complex. "I know the area that she's staying in, but I didn't get to see which building."

A hesitation was audible as the voice on the other line finally replied, "Good enough, Rose.  I congratulate you for your work thus far.  Keep up the good work, kid."

Chris nodded to himself. "Thank you, sir.  Goodbye."  Chris pressed a button and terminated the conversation as he flung the phone into the backseat of his car.

"Dammit!" he yelled at himself as he shifted the gear of his car into 'Park'. He huffed as he got out of his car and slammed the door shut.

"This is too much…" he muttered to himself as he withdrew a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.  He pressed a cigarette between his lips as he approached his apartment building.  He lit the end of the cigarette as he stood in front of the stairs and took a long draw from the Camel as he took his first steps up to his apartment.  He was nearly half done with the cigarette when he reached the top of the stairs, threw it to the floor and stomped on the cigarette until the fiery tip had been extinguished. [I've really got to stop smoking…]

A.N. I know that it has taken me for forever to finish this chapter, but I've been busy with a lot of things lately.  For those of you that read my other fic, 'Lying From You', you've probably read my other 'Author's Notes' and know what I'm talking about.  If not, don't worry too much about it, just know that one of the things that has been keeping me busy is working on that other fan fic.

I really, really apologize for the light, almost happy tone that this fic has right now—but I'm used to writing Inu Yasha fanfiction, and I haven't had to write anything that can truly be described as 'dark'.  Give me a few chapters or so, I'll get to a tone/mood that better fits WHR.

One final thing, someone told me that they thought that Robin had lived in America before and would have no problems understanding English, but as I understood, she lived in Italy (Tuscany).  So unless I missed something, I think that perhaps there was a geographical misunderstanding between Tucson (Arizona) and Tuscany (Italy). However, if I am in the wrong, I sincerely apologize and would like to know in which episode it is mentioned that Robin stayed in the US.

Arigato,

Ryoko Yuy


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